Dive Watch Releases / Articles

2012-04-05

By TLex Nice as the Perrelet SEACRAFT collection was when it was released last year, it did seem to lack a certain something, perhaps it was a little too generic in its design or little too similar to the Planet Ocean. The Seacraft didn't seem to grab the kind of attention the Perrelet's Turbine collection was getting either.

When I saw that Perrelet had released a divers version of their Turbine series at Basel this year I was pleasantly surprised. The Turbine DIVER is characterized by its large turbine dial, evocative of a submarine's propeller. It has an inner rotating divers bezel for measuring elapsed dive time.

Its case, which is offered in either monochrome Steel or two-tone Steel and DLC coated Steel is a generous 47.5mm in diameter. It has a water-resistance of 300m and is powered by Perrelet's exclusive P-331 caliber with Double Rotor, which can be viewed through its display back.

I couldn't really say that I'm head over heels in love with the Turbine DIVER, but it is growing on me, and - for me, it at least makes more sense than the Seacraft did. It also offers something new and interesting in a divers watch . . .

From PERRELET Dedicated diving gear by Perrelet. To explore the world's fascinating seabeds, the Turbine watch adopts an original design that is as symbolic as it is functional.

The rounded contours of the 11-blade upper rotor subtly evoke a submarine propeller. Spinning freely above the SuperLuminova coated surface, it creates the illusion of an entirely luminescent dial that naturally gains intensity at night or in the darkness prevailing at great depths. Dive times are measured by a rotating inner bezel ring on which the average 20-minute duration stands out clearly thanks to a play on colors and volumes. it is controlled by user-friendly crown at 10 o'clock equipped with a locking system.

The Arabic numerals, the main hour-markers as well as the subtly black-rimmed hour and minutes hands are also coated in SuperLuminova, thus enabling them to stand out against the background when it is lit up by the effect of the turbine in motion. The strong personality of the Turbine Diver is accentuated by a 47.5 mm-diameter case water-resistant to 300 meters and designed especially for this model.

The fluted caseband is distinguished by four 'paws' straddling the bezel, and the integrated winding crown is offset at 4 o'clock symmetrically opposite its counterpart controlling the rotating bezel. The sapphire crystal set into the screw-in caseback provides an admirable view of the automatic P-331 movement developed on the basis of the new Manufacture-made Alternance 10 caliber with its Côtes de Genève motif.